Terry Ades was born in Egypt and brought up in the bilingual city of Montreal. While her first language is French, she was obliged to attend English school. After receiving a degree in creative writing, her intention to author stories was derailed when as a young mother, she lost her eyesight. No longer able to read her narratives, she gave up on writing. Multiple surgeries and the aid of 31-point font later, she completed several short stories and two novels. She was awarded first prize in McGill Street Magazine's "Writes of Passage" competition for "Part of a Small Left Eye", a short story based on her experience. A still-to-be-published novel was a semi-finalist in the Chapters/Robertson Davies First Novel contest.